River Street (Savannah, Georgia)

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River Street
Savannah ga night.jpg
River Street from Hutchinson Island
Length 2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Location Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
West end North and East Lathrop Ave
East end East Bay Street

River Street is a commercial street and promenade in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It runs along the southern edge of the Savannah River for 2 miles (3.2 km), from the merging of North and East Lathrop Avenues in the west to East Bay Street in the east. Its most well-known section runs from the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, then below City Hall and Yamacraw Bluff, to its eastern terminus. It is West River Street up to where the Hyatt Regency spans it, at which point it becomes East River Street. The street is one-way (west to east) downtown.

Today East River Street houses restaurants, cafés and craft shops, and is one of the city's major tourist attractions. Its half-mile-long pedestrian promenade, the John P. Rousakis Riverfront Plaza, is named in honor of John Rousakis, Savannah's longest-serving mayor (1970–1992).[1]

At its downtown stretch, the street's southern side is populated by terraces of former King Cotton warehouses. Factors Row, a bluffside row of red brick buildings where cotton brokers bargained during the product's heyday, helps preserve this industry in its name. Factors Walk is "built on the middle level of a sloping bluff with warehouses beneath and Bay Street above."[2] The warehouses were also used as holding cells for African slaves.[3]

Transportation[]

A container ship moving west (upstream) along River Street

The River Street Streetcar, a heritage streetcar line, served six stops between Montgomery Street and East Broad Street from 2009 to 2015.[4][5] The lines were originally used by horsecars, then streetcars (between 1890 and 1946).[6] The Norfolk Southern Railway had owned the River Street branch line for years, operating the River Street Rambler, a local freight train, until 2003. The City of Savannah purchased the River Street Branch line right-of-way from Norfolk Southern in 2004[7] for approximately $600,000.[8]

Old Town Trolley Tours has a stop (number 10 of 15) on River Street below Factors Walk.[9] Old Savannah Tours has two stops on River Street: one close to Old Town's stop and the other at the marketplace further east.[10]

There are no city bus stops on River Street. The nearest ones are at Congress and Jefferson, Johnson Square, and Lincoln and Congress, which are all served by Chatham Area Transit's fare-free DOT (Downtown Transportation) "downtown loop" (route 7D) service. Lincoln Street ramp leads down to East River Street beside the western end of Factors Walk.

Large tankers and container ships proceeding to and returning from the Port of Savannah west of the city sometimes pass within yards of the promenade.

In 2020, Plant Riverside District, a largescale mixed-use development, opened on the west end of the street.

Popular culture[]

River Street is a location visited in the 2012 video game The Walking Dead.

Gallery[]

  • River Street in 2005, looking east from its intersection with East Upper Factors Walk

  • 207��209 East River Street, built circa 1858

  • 225 East River Street, built circa 1858, just to the west of Lincoln Street Ramp

  • 201–205 East River Street, built circa 1823

  • River Street businesses in 2016

  • A 2007 view, below Factors Walk

  • Looking west to the Talmadge Memorial Bridge

  • Streetcar tracks

  • A wet River Street. The in-view Kevin Barry's Pub closed in the new year of 2020 after nearly forty years in business[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "Public Monuments Dedicated to Greek Americans". The National Herald. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  2. ^ "Dreaming of Savannah" - New York Times, October 16, 1983
  3. ^ "Black History: River Street" - WTOC.com, February 18, 2009
  4. ^ "Connect the DOT". Archived from the original on February 6, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  5. ^ "River Street Streetcar begins passenger service today". City of Savannah News. February 11, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  6. ^ Morekis, James (November 19, 2008). "River Street streetcar arrives". Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  7. ^ Bonner, Jeanne (May 11, 2009). "A Streetcar Named Savannah". Georgia Municipal Association. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  8. ^ "Streetcar Now Operational on River Street". February 23, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  9. ^ "The Best Interactive Savannah Map For Planning Your Vacation". Old Town Trolley Tours.
  10. ^ "Route".
  11. ^ "Owner bids goodbye to Kevin Barry’s Pub" – Savannah Morning News, December 30, 2019
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